Justin Verlander’s getting all of the attention for the AL Cy Young award, and rightly so, but getting overlooked in the discussion is the work of teammate and closer Jose Valverde, who has converted all 47 save attempts this season. In fact, Valverde has earned a save in 13 of Verlander’s 24 victories this season. Put an average closer in place of Valverde and just how many wins do you think Verlander would have instead?

As so many fine hockey players have this summer, Mike Modano is officially retiring from the NHL. However, he first had to finish with his latest contract – a one-day deal with the Dallas Stars valued at $999,999, which provided a sense of closure to the former number 9 and fans of the franchise all around, as Modano spent 20 of his 21 NHL seasons in the Minnesota/Dallas organization. Modano will go down as one of – if not the greatest American-born player in NHL history.

To say the geographical situation in the NHL is less than desirable would be an understatement. With the move of the Atlanta Thrashers to Winnipeg (to play as the Winnipeg Jets) means that the Jets will have some of the most arduous travel schedule in history, but NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman thinks he has a solution to the problem, and he’ll spend the next two and a half months reviewing the situation.

Calgary Flames captain Jarome Iginla got out for his team’s first on-ice practice at training camp on Saturday, and less than 30 minutes later, he was back in the dressing room. Iginla complained of back spasms, which have sidelined the all-star winger since. He said that this is something that he’s battled with throughout his career, but has played through it for the most part during the season. For him, who has been in the NHL for 15 years, this is only training camp.

NHL training camps opened up on Friday, with hundreds of players across the league reporting in for physicals. Most of the time, this isn’t news, other than the obvious heralding of a new NHL season underway, but the situation with the Los Angeles Kings’ inability to sign restricted free agent defenseman Drew Doughty has reached a boiling point.

The New York Islanders announced today that they’ve locked up former first-overall draft pick and current fan favorite John Tavares to a six-year, $33 million contract. The deal kicks in next summer when Tavares’ entry level contract expires. This is great news for the fans of the Islanders, but the real question is how the heck can the franchise afford a deal as expensive as this one?

Yep - we are giving away an iPhone 5 to one lucky Gear Live reader as soon as the device launches, and we've got all the details on how to enter below. Hot on the heels of us giving away five iPad 2 tablets, we are set to bring you the newest Apple smartphone. Now, of course, Apple has yet to even formally announce the iPhone 5, but we all know it's coming, and that it should be announced before the end of the month. That said, we do have a few strong rumors about the device:

This giveaway is made possible by Decide.com, which has just launched its new mobile phone section, which helps you track the latest news around smartphones and provides advice on when you should buy or wait on a purchase. Use the widget below to enter—we've got a bunch of options available to allow you to rack up a bunch of bonus entries, and the widget will allow you to track them all. You can enter once per day until 11:59 PM PST on September 19th, and if the iPhone 5 isn't released and available by September 30 and you don't wanna wait, you can opt to select another gadget up to $500 in price.